Selfless Giving
by Kristen3
Summary: While working as a volunteer at a nursing home, Daphne finds herself making an unexpected offer to get a patient to follow orders. Her act of giving leads her to realize that love is the only thing that's truly priceless. One-shot written as a gift for my talented friends!


**Author's ****Note:**This idea came to me after reading a news article, and then it sort of would not go away. Since it does have to do with giving, I thought it would be nice to dedicate it, once again to Andrea, Leigh Ann, Melinda, Anika, Aria, and Andress. Please enjoy, and happy holidays! :)

Daphne felt good to be able to help out. She'd been volunteering at a local nursing home for several weeks now. It gave her something to do during the day, now that David was in pre-school. Niles, of course, had been extremely supportive of her desire to do more with her time, especially something that helped others. He knew how important this was to Daphne.

Many of these elderly residents were stubborn about exercising or taking their medications, but this was hardly a surprise to Daphne. Her years taking care of Martin had given her plenty of practice in dealing with people who didn't want to do what was good for them. Because she didn't have any kind of nursing background, Daphne wasn't allowed to give drugs or anything major, but she was able to listen to residents who were lonely, or take walks with them.

When she arrived at the home this afternoon, however, she was informed that they were very understaffed, and she would need to do a bit more than she was used to. The few nurses who'd shown up had sorted out the patients' medication, so Daphne would be able to deliver them to the residents, thus freeing the nurses for things she could not do. She knew she couldn't simply drop off a pill to an elderly patient, expecting them to take it. She stayed until she saw the pill swallowed. Most complied after a bit of grumbling.

But when she reached her last patient, things did not go so easily. In a sense, Daphne wasn't surprised. Instead of a pill, Mrs. Miller was given some sort of drink. Apparently it was a nutritional supplement, and it didn't look the least bit appetizing.

"I ain't drinking that!" Mrs. Miller said when Daphne placed the glass and straw in front of her. "How do I know it's not poison?!"

Luckily for Daphne, she wasn't in this alone. Mrs. Miller's daughter was visiting her mother. "Mom, you know it isn't. I'm sure Daphne has a lot of other things to do, so why don't you just drink it?"

A firm shake of her head was Mrs. Miller's response. For a moment, Daphne was reminded of similar battles she'd had with David. "I'm sure it isn't so bad," Daphne said, hoping she sounded convincing.

"No."

Daphne glanced at Mrs. Miller's daughter, silently pleading for help. "Mom, please, what can I do to get you do this?"

Mrs. Miller narrowed her eyes, considering the question. "Nothing."

Feeling a familiar frustration, Daphne decided to try something. "Why don't we just talk for a moment, and forget all about this, all right?" She pushed the glass aside. "I think it's wonderful that your daughter came here to visit you. I have a little boy meself. Want to see a picture of him?"

"OK," Mrs. Miller replied, still wary.

It was then that Daphne remembered she wasn't supposed to have her phone with her while she was here. She wouldn't be able to share the dozens of photos of David that she'd collected on her cellphone. But there was one picture she could show. Carefully, Daphne untucked her locket from underneath her shirt. She opened the heart-shaped pendant to reveal two small pictures. One showed Niles in his tuxedo, from the night of the Snow Ball years ago. In the other side of the locket was a picture of David taken on his last birthday. "See?" Daphne asked, leaning forward so that Mrs. Miller could look at the pendant.

"This thing's nice," Mrs. Miller commented. "You must've married a rich guy."

Daphne was rather taken aback by the comment, but suddenly, she had a crazy thought. "Mrs. Miller, would you like to have this necklace?"

"What?" Mrs. Miller asked in surprise.

"Well, if you like it, I could give it to you. Me husband's always buying me jewelry anyway."

Mrs. Miller's daughter caught on to what Daphne was doing. "Yes, Mom, you can have that beautiful necklace if you'll just drink what's in that glass." She pointed to where it now sat, nearly out of sight.

"You're seriously going to give me this, just for drinking that stuff?" Mrs. Miller asked.

Daphne nodded. "Yes, ma'am. Here, I'll even take it off for you, and I'll take the pictures out, too. I really mean it." As she removed the necklace, Daphne couldn't help noticing the words _My love_ inscribed on the back. She knew this was the right thing to do, but that didn't mean it would be easy.

"OK, then. You must really want this. Suit yourself."

Daphne grabbed the glass and put it back in front of Mrs. Miller. "There you go."

Mrs. Miller winced as she took the glass in her hands. It was clear from the moment she began drinking it that her assessment of how it tasted hadn't been wrong. For a second, it looked like Mrs. Miller had decided it wasn't worth it.

"Come on, Mrs. Miller, just a little bit more. That's right," she said encouragingly. After another glance at the necklace, which still sat in Daphne's hand, Mrs. Miller reluctantly downed the rest of the glass.

"Well, a deal's a deal," Daphne said, placing the necklace on the table. "There you go. Just like I said."

"Thank you," Mrs. Miller's daughter said.

"Oh, you're welcome," Daphne replied. She hadn't expected that giving away her locket would hurt this much. Still, she knew Niles would probably rush out to get her something even more expensive as soon as she told him what she'd done. "Enjoy your new necklace," Daphne said, smiling at her elderly patient as she turned and left the room.

Daphne walked down the hallway quickly, trying not to dwell on what had just happened.

Suddenly, a voice made Daphne turn around. It was Mrs. Miller's daughter, calling her name. Daphne walked back, surprised to see the woman holding the necklace in her hand. "Here."

"Why are you giving this back to me?" Daphne asked.

The woman looked at Daphne and sighed. "My mom...she doesn't really need something like this. Your husband gave it to you, and I know it means a lot to you. Trust me, Mom won't even remember this happened in a few minutes. This is yours. But thank you so much. None of the other workers here care this much about her."

Tears formed in Daphne's eyes at once. "It's me pleasure. Working with older people is something I've been doing for years. Me father-in-law's a retired policeman. He was shot in the hip, and I've been taking care of him for the past fifteen or so years. He's become like a dad to me, so I know what it's like."

Before Daphne knew what was happening, she was being swept into a hug. Without a doubt, Daphne knew moments like this were the reason she'd taken this job.

Soon it was time for Daphne to go and pick up David from school. Even while she drove her talkative son home, the incident stayed on her mind.

When they arrived home, Niles greeted them both warmly. He seemed to sense that Daphne had something on her mind, so after a few quick hugs, Niles asked his son to play in his room for a while.

As soon as David was gone, Niles took his wife in his arms. "What's wrong, my love?"

Daphne once again pulled out her necklace. "I almost gave this away."

"Your locket? Why?"

"The home was very understaffed, and I had to help make sure the patients took their medication. Mrs. Miller is about as stubborn as your father. She wouldn't drink her supplement, so I offered her a bribe. She took it."

"You were going to give your locket away? To help someone you barely knew?"

Daphne nodded. "It seemed like the right thing to do. I knew that you would probably buy me another necklace sometime or another. I just didn't realize how hard it would be to give it up."

"But I don't understand. You're wearing it."

"Mrs. Miller's daughter gave it back. She said her mum didn't need it. I know this shouldn't upset me, and I don't even know why it does. I guess I keep thinking how I would feel if she hadn't given it back. I love this necklace, Niles. It's like you and David are always near me. But I know that sounds sort of silly, doesn't it?"

Niles smiled. "Not at all, my love. In fact, I gave you this locket for that very reason. Wherever you are, you are never far from my thoughts. And I wanted you to have something that would help you remember that. I am truly amazed by the way you care for others. Not just David and me, and of course Dad. But even someone you hardly know. When we met all those years ago, I was sure you must be an angel, because you were so beautiful. But now that I've gotten to know you, I see that you truly _are_ an angel because of your heart."

Daphne kissed Niles for a long moment. Even though there was no doubt that giving away her necklace had been the right thing, Daphne had still felt a bit empty. All her life, she'd been taught that material things weren't the most important things in life. It was a lesson she hoped David would someday learn. But actually putting it into practice was harder than it seemed. As always, Niles saw things from another perspective. Daphne was grateful, because he'd told her that what she felt was completely normal. It was a gift she knew she could never put a price on.

**The End**


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